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AIIM publishes Case Study about EID's Client HACA
Learn how EID’s client, the Housing Authority of Alameda County (California), brought order to reams of office files through the successful implementation of ECM technologies, as reported in  a case study published by AIIM.  http://www.aiim.org/documents/standards/casestudies/HACA_Case_Study.pdf   
 
In 2007, HACA was nearly overrun by files stacked in every nook and cranny of the organization.  The improvements through implementation of the ECM system have resulted in several efficiencies in getting faster service to their constituents.  “Some of our workflow improvements are pure productivity improvements,” said Information and Technology Manager Jim McRoberts.

 
 
How Does Workflow Work?

 

Workflow provides for the automation of business processes and enables users to control the process logic, typically through a graphical user interface (GUI) and other tools. This ability to control the various business processes enables mission-critical, content-centric business applications to operate in an environment otherwise cumbersome to implement and manage. This has resulted in most Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) offering an integrated workflow engine or integrating the workflow engine, with various workflow products readily available throughout the industry. 
 
Workflow technologies are able to provide different levels of routing, tracking, and administration of electronic/digital work "items" or "activities" and can be grouped into three categories: administrative, ad-hoc, and production. 
 
Administrative workflow is typically used by organizations where the processes do not change, or change such as electronic time sheet processing where the flow of the time sheet for approval and processing by accounting is fixed and does not change, except for very rarely. 
 
Ad-hoc workflow provides the ability for a user to create a set of "work rules" on an "ad-hoc" basis for a specific piece or type of work. For example, a user can identify a list of people to review or approve a processing order and the system will move the document from "stage" to "stage". 
 
Production workflow incorporates administrative workflow and ad-hoc workflow capabilities along with providing extensive tracking and logging capabilities. 
 
A workflow application automates the sequence of actions, activities, or tasks used to run the process. This includes tracking the status of each occurrence of the process and providing tools to manage the process. There are four basic components to a workflow system:
 
Processes: An automated workflow application is made up of the different tasks or activities that must be completed to achieve a business goal. The workflow engine manages all data, underlying security and functions. The workflow application works in conjunction with the engine to manage the work process.
 
Work Queues: Work items are created and distributed according to preset rules and placed into work queues for further processing. Each work queue contains only "like" work items such as the "clearance queue", "rating queue", "pricing queue", "issuance queue", etc.. The level of automation of each item within these work queues is based on the needs of the organization. Users or groups of users are assigned to various work queues as required for processing through the use of security controls enabling the organization to assign a user to one or more roles which is related to which work queues the user can see, what work can be viewed, what work can be accessed, etc..
 
Tools: There are various tools accessed by the user including forms display, word processors, terminal emulators, legacy applications, etc. These tools are used to access existing host applications and perform office related activities as required to complete work.
 
Object Data: Another term for any digital content referenced and/or used by the workflow system. The term became more prevalent after the computing technology became sufficiently sophisticated to support video, audio, and other forms of information into the workflow system. These objects become the work item to be processed during the normal course of business.
 

When considering the core components of production workflow, organizations that want to automate portions of the process or the entire process typically utilize production level workflow technologies. This allows the organization to implement new processes using workflow in months rather than years it would take to develop this technology in-house.

 

 

 

 
 
 
E-Blog

 

  • ESI, E-Discovery, E-Evidence -- EID's E-Blog covers it
    • As we launch a new website at EID, Inc., we are pleased to retain the valuable resource information our clients and viewers have become accustomed to finding.  However, as the world of Electronically Stored Information, E-Discovery and E-Evidence make clear, issues are being raised on a weekly basis.  We will continue to share our articles and whitepapers covering more indepth topics, but we will be posting information in the E-Blog as it comes to our attention.
    • For example, as a recent survey of US companies demonstrated there is an increased need in the US to address ESI risks.  While there is a reported increased in awareness of ESI risks,  less than 40 percent of the voluntary respondents to the annual survey believed they had a defensible and repeatable strategy in place to respond to E-Discovery requests or subpoenas.  That leaves a large number of companies in one of the most litigious countries exposed and vulnerable to E-Discovery requests. 
    • EID, Inc. can help your company address E-Discovery before it becomes an E-Nightmare.

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California's E-Discovery Rules

What Do the new California E-Discovery Rules Mean for the Practitioner?

The reality is that the new California E-Discovery Rules change very little about what is discoverable.  Electronic evidence has always been subject to discovery.  However, the change to the rules [citation] does highlight the additional responsibilities incumbent upon practitioners, both litigation and business advisors.  And, if the glassy-eyed looks of lawyers attending the California State Bar convention in San Diego earlier this fall were any indication, there are a lot of practitioners who have a lot to learn in this area.  All of the classes discussing E-Discovery Rules or E-evidence were well attended but many of the attendees looked mystified.  They may well have been hearing terms like meta-data for the first time and certainly cloud computing had never crossed their desks.

The Bar sent a clear message that lawyers must be competent in these areas as so much of their opposing parties and client data is electronic.  Lawyers must be versed in the rudiments of how information is stored and what the risks are to their clients in order to properly advise them on how to respond to discovery or how to retain critical business records.

As a business lawyer, what should you tell a client who informs you that the corporate minutes and formalities are maintained on a network computer that everyone in the office has access to?  If the accuracy and trustworthiness of those documents were at issue, could you client demonstrate the appropriate foundation given the lax approach to the records. Think it might not be an issue in the real world.  In one federal court case, an executive electronically backdated the approval of his bonus so that he could get paid that year.  Although, the Board had in fact approved the bonus, the timing was an issue so the enterprising executive fixed the records to appear as if the authorization was timely.

As a litigator, you need to know where your client could possibly be storing electronic records.  Does your client allow employees to keep company records on personal computers at home?  On Blackberry devices?  What about voice mail -- is it digital and recorded somewhere?  Did the client search all of those potential areas before responding to the discovery request.   Although it is the client signing the declaration under penalty of perjury, the lawyer will want to be sure there are no surprises waiting during the litigation..